Avery IPA pours a clear dull gold with a profuse eggshell head that leaves plenty of lacing behind on the glass. The nose is biscuit, bread, and caramel malt coupled with a burst of spritzy floral pine hop aroma. There is also a slight creaminess lurking underneath the hop aroma. Flavors don’t stray too far from that: we’ve got bread and pine in the front that shifts to sweet caramel and pine in the middle, along with a fair amount of hop bitterness as the beer travels across the tongue. The finish is also pine, coupled with a touch of biscuit and some resin hop tackiness on the roof of the mouth. The finish is dry, but not quite clean—the big hop bitterness is nice in the body, but is slightly muddy in the finish as some of the balancing flavors disappear. Nonetheless, Avery is a solid and enjoyable IPA, albeit a couple of generations removed from contemporary American IPAs—it is more Harpoon IPA than Brew Kettle White Rajah IPA. We’d personally like a bit less caramel, but the bitterness levels are right where they need to be—bracing and crisp.

From the bottle: “Our IPA demands to be poured into your favorite glass to truly appreciate the citrusy, floral bouquet and the rich malty, yet dry finish. Brewed by hop heads, for hop heads.”

From the Avery website: “In the 1700s one crafty brewer discovered that a healthy dose of hops and an increased alcohol content preserved his ales during the long voyage to India (as depicted in our label) to quench the thirst of British troops. Today, we tip our hat to that historic innovation by brewing Colorado’s hoppiest pale ale. Avery IPA demands to be poured into your favorite glass to truly appreciate the citrusy, floral bouquet and the rich, malty finish.”